Prem Rawat

Ambassador of Peace

In a lifetime of dedicated service, Prem Rawat has reached hundreds of millions of people in over 100 countries with his message of peace. He speaks to audiences from all walks of life, from intimate gatherings of inmates to forums with world leaders as well as vast public crowds—sometimes exceeding 300,000 in India.

He has been invited to speak at many important institutions including the European Parliament, the United Nations (UN), the Italian Senate, and at the parliament buildings of Australia, Argentina, and New Zealand, as well as at leading universities and business conferences.

Prem is also a best-selling author, collecting and adapting age-old stories for a modern audience. These stories continue to inspire and transform millions of people’s lives. In 2018, his book When the Desert Blooms (Cuando el desierto florece) topped Penguin Random House’s Spanish non-fiction list.

Background

Prem was born in northern India in 1957 and gave his first public talk about peace at the age of four. When he was 13, he was invited to speak in London and Los Angeles. What began as a school holiday developed into a life-long journey to bring his unique message of peace to the entire world, one person at a time.

For more than 50 years, he has continued to speak from his heart, without script or rehearsal. To fulfill his vision of inspiring people to discover and practice peace, he maintains a demanding travel schedule, flying an average of 100,000 nautical miles and attending approximately 90 speaking engagements across the globe every year.

Recent Achievements and Recognition

In recognition of his profound impact on individuals and his contribution toward the world’s understanding of peace, Prem has received many keys to cities and awards (see panel on this page), and has been named an Ambassador of Peace four times: by UNIPAZ (University of Peace in Brazil) and three government organizations. In 2012, Prem was awarded the Asia Pacific Brands Association’s BrandLaureate Lifetime Achievement award, reserved for statesmen and individuals whose actions and work have positively impacted the lives of people and the world at large. Other recipients of this prestigious award include Nelson Mandela.

In a specially prepared video for the Nordic Peace Conference in Oslo, Prem emphasized the very real possibility of peace in our lifetime. He said: “There are people who are very greedy; there are people who don’t care. But in my opinion, that is a minority. The majority of the people on the face of this earth want peace, and if this is true, then peace on earth is a very achievable objective. People say it’s not going to happen. Well, let this time belong to those who believe it can happen, not to the ones who say it cannot.”

Humanitarian Efforts

In 2001 he set up The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), a non-profit 501(C)3 foundation, which works to address the human needs of food, water, and peace.

Taking an innovative approach envisioned by Prem Rawat, TPRF developed its Food for People (FFP) program in 2006 to help people in communities caught in a downward cycle of poverty. FFP now provides more than 400,000 hot nutritious meals in the local cuisine to children and ailing adults and hygiene education via food kitchens in India, Nepal, and Ghana. In each area, the program has transformed local communities by improving health, growing school attendance and achievement, and boosting economies.

The Foundation’s Peace Education Program (PEP), a 10-week course to help people discover their own inner resources, has been presented in over 80 countries and is translated into over 35 languages. The program has been valued in universities, health care facilities, veteran’s groups, corporations, police units, community groups, and correctional facilities, to name a few. The result most commented on is that people discover their own inner strength, the power of their choices, and that their experience of personal peace is not dependent on their circumstances.

Each year, TPRF helps to make Prem’s message of peace widely available through forums with government and industrial leaders, educators, and military officials, as well as prison officials and inmates.

TPRF has also awarded hundreds of grants to partner organizations in 40 countries to fund a wide variety of humanitarian initiatives, from disaster relief and water infrastructure to student computer labs.

Personal

Prem Rawat embraces creativity and cutting-edge technology to further his work. He is an inventor, musician, and a highly accomplished pilot with over 14,000 hours flying time, most of it spent flying himself to his speaking events. Prem is married with four adult children and three grandchildren.

Prem Rawat has received widespread recognition. Proclamations and resolutions that honor his work, keys to cities, letters of appreciation, and invitations from government officials are among the many ways he has been honored through the years. Select tabs above to view a partial list of honors received.

2006: Title first conferred by Pierre Weil, rector of the International University of Peace, UNIPAZ Florianopolis, Brazil

2007: Designated Ambassador of Peace for the Basilicata Region of Italy by the governor, and the City of Sondrio, Italy

2011: Appointed by Gianni Pittella MEP, 1st Vice President of the European Parliament, as “Ambassador for Peace” on behalf of the Brussels Declaration Pledge to Peace, signed at the European Parliament in 2011

2015: Order for International Merit of Blood from International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations

Governors of Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and NewYork. General Assembly of the State of Connecticut; Court of Common Council, Hartford, Connecticut; Pennsylvania House of Representatives; Rhode Island General Assembly; Wisconsin Legislature. Mayors of Boston, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California; Buffalo, New York; Boulder, Colorado; Miami, Florida; Fort Lee, New Jersey; San Francisco, California.

• Award for Best Television Program twice by the Brazilian Association of Community Television Channels for Words of Peace, a weekly series featuring Prem Rawat’s message of peace. • Chosen by Promovision Viewers as Favorite TV Program in Mexico. • Won first place honors in the 2007 Community Access Magic (CAM) Awards, sponsored by CTV, USA

Contact

Telephone: +1 310 392-5700

Address

The Prem Rawat Foundation
PO Box 24-1498
Los Angeles, CA 90024USA

The Mission of TPRF

is to address the fundamental human needs of food, water and peace. Through a variety of programs and initiatives, TPRF is dedicated to helping build a world at peace, one person at a time, so that people can live with: